Raja had to admit, there was a sense of relief that accompanied returning to RMI as opposed to showing up for the first time. It was nice to immediately belong somewhere and not have to wait to find out which bonfire was his. This time around, he knew to go to the Aquila fire (even if it was probably the weirdest color for a fire. At least Draco’s, while boring, made sense.)

He watched the first years shuffle in with a brand new appreciation, remembering the not-too-distant sensations of wonder and nervousness, not only for the Sorting - which, in the grand scheme of things, didn’t really matter - but for the whole year that was ahead. Raja was a second year now. He knew more of what to expect. Still, it was hard not to pick up at least a sliver of the seemingly contagious nervousness a lot of first years tended to exude.

What was weird, though, was not seeing Aunt Estelle at the staff fire. It was understandable, of course, based on how recently she had given birth, but still. Raja wasn’t particularly fond of changes, and he liked having constants and familiarities. At least the rest of the school was the same, minus the obvious replacement of seventh years with the new students. And, most importantly, the Draco third year class remained untouched.

After the first years sat down, he did his best to listen to the Deputy Headmistress’s speech while he picked confetti out of his dark hair. He was getting pretty hungry, though, which made it decidedly harder to pay attention. Something something Head Students and Prefects, something something Flying Lessons and Quidditch tryouts (which of course he did care about but would care more about on a full stomach/when Marissa put up signups), etc. etc., ditto ditto. And then Professor Boot had to give everybody a heart attack with the announcement of a day-one test, which Raja resolved to fail, deciding immediately that spending his first night back studying was simply not worth it.

Then, finally, food! The House Elves swirled with plates a plenty, and Raja helped himself to whatever looked good. He had already acquired a nice bowl of macaroni and cheese, but a nearby Elf had plates that clearly toted pizza. “I need that,” he thought aloud before asking, “Can you pass me some pizza?” of a student closer to the Elf in question.

Corriander’s first few steps into the Finer Diner did not disappoint. Not only was there enough food to feed a village, but there was confetti raining down on his head. According to Corri, Confetti... more

Marissa Kendrick scanned the Finer Diner with sparkling green eyes. The sixth year was so excited to be back. She loved her summers, and she always kept busy, but this was going to be her year. Fifth ... more

It had been a terrible summer. Armaan sauntered over to the Aquila fire, glad to get away from Rhiya and Sonia’s excited chattering about the confetti bombs they had planned. He flopped onto the... more

Ruben’s first (half) year at RMI had gone about as well as he’d expected. He had scored a beautiful partner and done a lot of things involving mouths, and then they had broken up - well, technically... more

As usual, Rose had spent the summer avoiding her family as much as possible, except for the occasional fight with her father over Dade. Rose had expected more confrontation with her father, given... more

Still snickering at her loud reaction to the glitter (yep, that was the kind of entertainment he had been looking for), Ruben stretched out one of his legs. An orange cat, which he recognized from... more